First Lady Bake-Off Explained

The First Lady Bake-Off, renamed the Presidential Cookie Poll in 2016, was a baking competition held by Family Circle from 1992 until 2016 between the spouses of leading presidential candidates. It originated after Hillary Clinton made a political gaffe which was interpreted by some as disparaging baking or housewives. The competition later became known for frequently mirroring the results of presidential elections. It was canceled after Family Circle went out of business in 2019.

History

Background

The competition was inspired by a political gaffe made by Hillary Clinton in 1992 during her husband Bill Clinton's presidential campaign. In response to questions about her career and the Whitewater controversy,[1] she stated that "I suppose I could have stayed home and baked cookies and had teas, but what I decided to do was to fulfill my profession, which I entered before my husband was in public life".[2] These remarks were controversial, and were perceived by some as a slight on housewives.[3] [4] Seeking to capitalize on the controversy, the magazine Family Circle came up with the idea of a cooking contest between the wives of presidential candidates.[5] The competition gave potential First Ladies the opportunity to publish cookie recipes in the magazine, which its subscribers would then bake and vote for their favorites.[6] The winning recipes were announced in October, ahead of the presidential election.[7]

Debbie Walsh, director of the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University, said that Clinton's remarks "stepped outside the bounds of what was seen as the traditional role of first lady, potential first lady [...] the price she paid was being placed in the midst of a cookie bake-off."[8] Kelly Faircloth of Jezebel attributed the backlash towards Clinton's comments and the success of the contest to contemporary anxieties about the increasing number of career women.[9] According to media science professor Tammy R. Vigil, media coverage of the bake-off portrayed the women participating as adhering to traditional gender roles and published anecdotes about their domestic lives that contributed to this image.[10]

Clinton reportedly took the competition seriously and enlisted friends to help her with baking,[11] as a way to recover from the gaffe and make herself appear more traditional.[12] Clinton won the competition against her opponent Barbara Bush. Bush later wrote that her recipe had been borrowed from a housemate.[13]

2004 election

During the 2004 US Presidential election, Laura Bush's cowboy cookies beat Teresa Kerry's pumpkin spice cookies. Kerry told NPR and The New York Times that she disapproved of the recipe and suspected one of her staff of purposely sabotaging her by submitting an unappealing recipe.[14] She further stated that she did not like pumpkin cookies and had never made them before.[15] Kerry's office claimed that they had originally submitted a recipe called "Yummy Wonders" which was rejected by Family Circle, and one of her staffers submitted pumpkin spice cookies as a replacement without consulting her. Kerry's press secretary Marla Romash corroborated her statements, saying that "If you tasted those [pumpkin] cookies, you'd think someone was trying to do you harm, too."

2008 election

Cindy McCain's Oatmeal-Butterscotch cookies beat Michelle Obama's shortbread cookies[16] during the 2008 US presidential election, although McCain was accused of plagiarizing her recipe from a packaging for Hershey's.[17] [18] This marked the first time in the contest's history that the results differed from the presidential election, as John McCain lost to Barack Obama.

2016 election and 2020 cancellation

The competition was renamed the "Presidential Cookie Poll" during the 2016 US presidential election, when Hillary Clinton was the Democratic presidential nominee against Donald Trump and her husband Bill was in the running for First Gentleman. Bill Clinton submitted the same chocolate chip cookie recipe as Hillary had in previous years. His decision to repeat his wife's recipe was criticized by The Atlantic,[19] although he won the competition.

The bake-off was canceled in 2020, after Family Circle went out of business in 2019,[20] meaning that Jill Biden and Melania Trump did not compete against each other during the 2020 US presidential election.[21]

Results

!Election year!Winner!Other contestants!Matched electoral results!Refs.
2016 electionBill Clinton – chocolate chip cookiesMelania Trump – star sugar cookies
2012 electionMichelle Obama – white and dark chocolate chip cookiesAnn Romney – M&M cookies[22]
2008 electionCindy McCain – oatmeal-butterscotch cookiesMichelle Obama – shortbread cookies
2004 electionLaura Bush – cowboy cookiesTeresa Kerry – pumpkin spice cookies[23]
2000 electionLaura Bush - cowboy cookiesTipper Gore - ginger snap cookies[24]
1996 electionHillary Clinton – chocolate chip cookiesElizabeth Dolepecan roll cookies
1992 electionHillary Clinton – chocolate chip cookiesBarbara Bush – chocolate chip cookies

Reception

The competition has been criticized by some commentators for being regressive, demeaning,[25] and promoting sexist stereotypes about women's roles.[26] [27] [28] Faith Salie of CBS called it "retrograde tradition that began either with sexism or irony".[29]

Comparison to electoral results

The competition became known for often predicting the results of the presidential election,[30] [31] [3] with its results matching the outcome of five out of seven elections. The streak was first broken in 2008, when McCain's cookies beat Obama's.[32] Various commentators identified key ingredients whose inclusion made it more likely that a cookie would win the competition, such as chocolate[33] and oatmeal.[34]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: By . 2000-11-13 . LOVE HER OR HATE HER, HILLARY IS ONE TOUGH COOKIE . 2023-06-20 . Orlando Sentinel . en-US.
  2. Web site: Working Moms, First Ladies and Recalling Hillary Clinton's 'Baking Cookies' Comment . 2023-06-20 . ABC News . en.
  3. Web site: 2008-06-20 . How the cookie crumbles: the great first lady bake-off . 2023-06-20 . The Independent . en.
  4. Web site: The TIME Vault: April 20, 1992 . 2023-06-20 . TIME.com.
  5. News: Keith . Tamara . August 18, 2016 . Cooked Up After A Hillary Clinton Gaffe, The First Spouse Cookie Battle Is Back . .
  6. News: Courting the cookie vote: Obama vs. Romney in the presidential bake-off . Christian Science Monitor . 2023-06-20 . 0882-7729.
  7. Web site: 2020-09-03 . The First Lady Cookie Contest has been canceled indefinitely . 2023-06-20 . TODAY.com . en.
  8. Web site: Cooked Up After A Hillary Clinton Gaffe, The First Spouse Cookie Battle Is Back . 2023-06-20 . www.wbur.org . en.
  9. Web site: 2020-09-04 . The Serendipitous Death of the First Lady Cookie Bakeoff . 2023-06-20 . Jezebel . en.
  10. Book: Vigil, Tammy R. . Moms in Chief: The Rhetoric of Republican Motherhood and the Spouses of Presidential Nominees, 1992–2016 . 2019-01-23 . University Press of Kansas . 978-0-7006-2748-6 . en.
  11. News: Burros . Marian . 1992-07-15 . Now Is the Time to Come to the Aid of Your Favorite Cookies . en-US . The New York Times . 2023-06-20 . 0362-4331.
  12. Web site: Chait . Jonathan . newsletter . who’s been a New York political columnist since 2011 He writes the . c. . 2012-06-27 . Michelle Obama, Ann Romney Forced to Share Recipes . 2023-06-20 . Intelligencer . en-us.
  13. News: Heil . Emily . 2021-10-28 . The traditional presidential cookie contest is off — but many 'first lady recipes' have long been bogus . en-US . Washington Post . 2023-06-20 . 0190-8286.
  14. Web site: 2004-10-05 . Let Them Eat Pumpkin Spice Cookies . 2023-06-20 . Independent Women's Forum . en.
  15. News: Burros . Marian . 2004-07-28 . UNIFYING THE PARTY: THE CANDIDATE'S WIFE; Mystery Ingredients: Heinz Kerry Disavows Cookie Recipe . en-US . The New York Times . 2023-06-20 . 0362-4331.
  16. 2008-11-03 . Election Prognosticators - TIME . en-US . Time . 2023-07-04 . 0040-781X.
  17. 2008-11-03 . Election Prognosticators – TIME . en-US . Time . 2023-06-20 . 0040-781X.
  18. Locker . Melissa . 2012-10-02 . Michelle Obama Wins Critical First Lady Cookie Contest . en-US . Time . 2023-06-20 . 0040-781X.
  19. Web site: Graham . David A. . 2016-08-18 . Bill Clinton's Half-Baked Entry in the Presidential Cookie Contest . 2023-06-20 . The Atlantic . en.
  20. Web site: Settembre . Jeanette . 2020-09-02 . First lady cookie contest comes to an end after 7 election cycles . 2023-06-20 . Fox News . en-US.
  21. Web site: Bennett . Kate . 2020-09-01 . Political tradition crumbles as the first lady cookie competition ends CNN Politics . 2023-06-20 . CNN . en.
  22. Web site: Patriot-News . The . 2012-10-08 . Michelle Obama wins Presidential Cookie Bake-Off by 287 votes . 2023-06-20 . pennlive . en.
  23. Book: Young, Bev . Presidential Cookies: Cookie Recipes of the Presidents of the United States . 2005 . Presidential Publishing . 978-0-9729095-5-6 . 150 . en.
  24. Web site: Laura Bush's Cowboy Cookies . 2023-06-20 . Southern Living . en.
  25. Web site: Michelle Obama vs. Ann Romney: The 'demeaning' cookie bake-off . 2023-06-20 . The Week . en.
  26. Web site: 2016-08-22 . Sexist "First Lady Bake-Off" still occurs since cookies can allegedly predict the election . 2023-06-20 . Mic . en.
  27. Web site: Purdy . Chase . 2016-08-21 . The blatantly sexist cookie bake-off that has haunted Hillary Clinton for two decades is back . 2023-06-20 . Quartz . en.
  28. Web site: 2012-10-03 . Why the Hell Are We Still Holding First Lady Bake-Offs? Stop It. Stop It Right Now. . 2023-06-20 . Jezebel . en.
  29. Web site: 2016-10-16 . Faith Salie on the Presidential Cookie Bake-off – CBS News . 2023-06-20 . www.cbsnews.com . en-US.
  30. News: 2012-10-04 . A cookie bake-off among US First Lady contenders is a bellwether indicator . The Economic Times . 2023-06-20 . 0013-0389.
  31. Web site: 2012-06-26 . Ann Romney, Michelle Obama face off in cookie contest . 2023-06-20 . TODAY.com . en.
  32. Web site: Testa . Jessica . 2012-10-02 . Can A Cookie Contest Predict The Election? . 2023-06-20 . BuzzFeed News . en.
  33. News: Burros . Marian . 2000-07-02 . It's Ginger vs. Chocolate in the Presidential Cookie Race . en-US . The New York Times . 2023-06-20 . 0362-4331.
  34. News: Friedman . Marcelle . 2012-07-02 . Why Michelle Obama's Cookie Recipe Will Lose Her Husband the Election . en-US . Slate . 2023-06-20 . 1091-2339.